Ejector for supply package indexing mechanism



Aug. 7, 1962 T. E. PITTS ET AL 3,048,349

EJECTOR FOR SUPPLY PACKAGE INDEXING MECHANISM Filed May 19, 1960 I z I INVENTORS 77/000 5 Pn-rs a ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,048,349 EJECTOR FOR SUPPLY PACKAGE INDEXING MECHANISM Thomas E. Pitts, Cranston, and Carlton A. Steele, Norwood, R.I., assignors to Leesona Corporation, Cranston, R.I., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed May 19, 1960, Ser. No. 30,221 5 Claims. (Cl. 242-130) This invention relates to a supply package ejector for textile winding machines and is more specifically concerned with a package ejector adapted for use with an automatic supply package indexing mechanism.

In the commonly assigned application of Pitts and Steele, entitled Automatic Supply Package Indexing Mechanism for Winding Machines, filed concurrently herewith, there is disclosed and claimed a self-initiating supply package indexing mechanism for winding machines, particularly of the fully automatic type covered by US Patent 2,764,362, issued to Goodhue et al. on September 25, 1956. In accordance with the invention of that application, at least two circumferentially spaced packages of yarn, such as bobbins, cops, or the like, were mounted at the supply end of the winding machine upon a carrier arranged for rotation about a vertical axis, the carrier being automatically rotated to remove one package from an active unwinding. position and bring another package thereto in the event the yarn on the first package ran out or broke in the vicinity of the package. The supply packages were seated on the vertically arranged pins or posts and after the package carrier had been indexed it was necessary for the machine attendant to service the indexing means more or less immediately, replacing the package holder, if empty with a fresh package or rethreading the end, if the thread was broken, from the package to a standby position at the front end of the machine. While each of these operations is quite simple, they nevertheless consume a certain amount of the attendants time, and, obviously, the more demands of this type that are made upon the attendant, the fewer the number of winding positions that she can be expected to tend. It is rather rare for a thread to break in the region of the supply package since such packages are usually wound free of broken ends in the first place and very little strain is imposed on the yarn in removing it axially from the package. Consequently, the principal role of the attendant for automatic winding machines of the type in question is the removal of empty package holders from the carrier pins on which they are supported after such holders have been indexed away from active winding position to a reserve position, and inserting a fresh supply package on the carrier pin in reserve position, whereby the machine will be in a state of readiness for the next indexing operation.

It is a principal object of the present invention to simplify the duties of the attendant by accomplishing the first of these steps automatically and incidentally to the movement of the package carrier during indexing, whereby the duties of the attendant are confined to placing a fresh package on the package carrier and arranging the end of yarn therefrom in a suitable position for introduction at the proper time into the winding operation.

Another object of the present invention is a package ejecting device for a supply package indexing mechanism, which device is operable as the mechanism indexes to dislodge the package holder from the support therefor and guide the dislodged holder away from the indexing mechanism.

A further object of the invention is a combination with a supply package indexing mechanism of a package ejector including means for initially unseating the package holder from its support on the mechanism and means for displacing the unseated holder laterally from the support and "ice away from the indexing mechanism, both of which means are cam-actuated during the indexing operation.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a right side elevational view, with certain parts shown in section, of a yarn supply package indexing mechanism in association with the package ejector of the present invention, the ejector being illustrated in the act of guiding an empty package holder away from the indexing mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along line 22 of FIG. 1, looking down at the package carrier in the position assumed thereby during normal winding; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged detailed views taken in section substantially along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1 and 4-4 of FIG. 1, respectively.

Before proceeding to describe the details of the invention, it should perhaps be explained that, while the ejector of the invention was especially developed for use in conjunction with the automatic indexing mechanism described and claimed in the aforesaid application of Pitts and Steele, it nevertheless will find ready application to other types of package indexing systems in which a supply package carrier is, from time to time, advanced stepwise to deliver a fresh package to unwinding position and to remove an empty package holder to an inactive position where it can be replaced with another fresh package.

In general, the present invention may be characterized as comprising a carrier for at least two yarn holders arranged for rotation about a vertical axis and adapted for rotation from time to time through a limited are about said axis to simultaneously transfer one package initially in active position to a reserve position and the other package from reserve position to the active position, the carrier including a corresponding number of supports at points spaced circumferentially therearound and upon which the holders are seated. Mounted adjacent the support for each package holder is a lift member which is adapted to be raised to displace the holder from its seat on the support and disposed above each support is a discharging member which is adapted to be swung outwardly to engage the package holder and thrust it away from the package carrier. Both of the lift and discharging members are provided with cam followers which, during the rotation of the carrier, are engaged by independent cams and actuated thereby. Preferably, the discharging member takes the form of an elongated tube surrounding each package holder over a major portion of its length when seated on a support and terminating above the upper end of the package support, the tube being pivoted for independent rocking movement in an arm rotating with the carrier. The invention may also include a trough or tray for collecting the ejected holders.

Turning now to a detailed description of the invention with a particular reference to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 designates a part of a yarn winding machine situated at the preferably in the form of an inverted U-shaped channel having its end edges resting upon the floor or other support for the machine. A shaft 14 extends between the part 10 and rail 12 and is suitably journalled therein for rotation about a vertical axis. At its lower end, shaft 14 projects below the top wall of rail 12, as at 16, and a bevel gear 18 is rigidly fixed on the shaft end. Meshing with bevel gear 18' is a bevel pinion 20 secured to the outer end Situated beneath housing 10. in the vertical spaced relationship thereto is a rail 12,

of a horizontal shaft 22 extending rearwardly toward the remainder of the winding machine (not shown), the rear wall of rail 12 being suitably cut away, as at 24, to accommodate the shaft. The end of shaft 22 remote from rail 12 is connected to a suitable source of power (not shown) and it is contemplated that shaft 14 shall be rotated, from time to time, through a limited are either by periodic operation of shaft 22 or in some other manner, as desired. For example, where it is advantageous for shaft 22 to undergo constant rotation, shaft 14 may be arranged concentrically to a second shaft carrying bevel gear 18, and member may contain a clutch mechanism for coupling the upper ends of shaft 14 and the gear-carrying shaft when indexing is to take place, in accordance with the arrangement described in the aforesaid application of Pitts and Steele.

There is afiixed to shaft 14 at a point somewhat above the upper level or rail 12 a yarn carrier member, generally designated 26, constructed as a spider having a central hub portion 28 press-fitted or otherwise secured on shaft 14 and two branches 30, 30 extending radially from hub 28 in diametrically opposite directions. Adjacent their respective outer ends, branches 30 and 30' carry vertically arranged posts 32, 32' having their upper ends tapered, as at 34, to receive and support yarn supply package holders. As shown in the drawings, these packages are in the form of tubular bobbins provided with an axial bore into the lower ends of which the tapered ends 34 of the posts 32., 32 fit to support the packages with their axes parallel to the axis of shaft 14. It will be understood, of course, that carrier 26 could be adapted to support other types of yarn holders as well.

Branches 30, 30 are provided at their inner ends adjacent hub 28 with pairs of spaced-apart upstanding ears 36, 36 which are bridged at their upper ends by horizontal pins 38, 38'. Projecting outwardly from the pairs of ears 36, 36, with their inner ends pivoted on pins 38, 38', are lift arms 40, 40 which terminate with enlarged spadelike portions 42, 42 (see FIG. 2). The latter portions are slotted, as at 44, 44, to fit around posts 32, 32', the slots being radially elongated to permit arms 40, 40 to pivot about pins 38, 38. The transverse dimension of slots 44, 44 is so selected that it just exceeds the exterior diameter of the posts.

Enlarged portions 42, 42 are preferably bowed upward- 1y or convexly bent from the normal plane of the arm so that, when the arms are in fully depressed position, the outer edges of the spade portions rest against the top surface of branches 30, 30 with the inner ends of the lift arms supported above that surface in the ears. Fitting around posts 32, 32' between the tapered end portions 34 and enlarged portions 42, 42 of lift arms 40, 40' are tubular sleves 48, 48', which are just long enough to leave the tapered end portions exposed when lift arms 40, 40 are in fully depressed position. As slots 44, 44 in the enlarged end portions of the lift arms are only slightly larger than the diameter of posts 32, 32', it will be seen that the lower face of each sleeve 48, 48' is engaged by the marginal edges of the slot in the corresponding enlarged arm pontion. Hence, as each arm 40, 40' is elevated, the sleeve associated therewith will likewise be elevated above the upper limit of the post which it surrounds to unseat the yarn holder on that post.

The elevation of the lift arms is accomplished through the medium of elongated tongues 50, 50', each formed integrally with a lift arm 40, 40', and depending downwardly therefrom, which tongues pass through elongated apertures provided for that purpose in the branches, as at 52. Cooperating with tongues 50, 50 to move the same is a plate cam 54 situated between carrier 26 and .rail 12 and supported on a collar or pedestal 56, which may also serve as the journal for shaft 14, encircling shaft 14 and attached to the top wall of rail 12. Cam 54 is stationary, being cut away at its center to clear the external surface of shaft 14, and peripheral edge 58 thereof constitutes a cam surface for tongues 50, 50. As is best shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral edge 58 of cam 54 is concentric with shaft 14 except at the rear side thereof, at which side edge 58 is extended outwardly, as at 60, to form a lobe or salient. Sleeves 48, 48 are freely slidable with respect to posts 32, 32', and lift arms 40, 40' are free to rock to a considerable extent about their pivot axes. Consequently, the corresponding sleeves and arms will normally tend, due to the influence of gravity as well as the weight of the package holder, to assume a fully downwardly depressed position on the carrier arms and the radius of the concentric edge portion of cam 54 is so selected that the inner edges of tongues 50, 50 will just contact that edge. Thus, as carrier 26 rotates about the axis of shaft 14, the package lift arms 40, 40' and sleeves 48, 48' will remain in fully depressed position, exposing the tapered upper end portions 34 of posts 32, 32 for engagement with the package holders until the tongue of a lift arm encounters the lobe portion of cam 54. When this occurs, the tongue will be moved outwardly away from shaft 14, causing the corresponding lift arm and sleeve to be raised on the corresponding post, and unseating the package holder on that post from the tapered post end.

The point on the circular path of the package holders through which the axis of lobe 60 passes may be varied, although, of course, that point must be located between the loci on the path for the active unwinding and reserve positions of the holders, since, in such each position, the posts must be capable of receiving and supporting a package. One satisfactory arrangement has been found to be with the axis of lobe portion 60 extending approximately at right angles to the longitudinal axis of rail 12, i.e., approximately parallel to the axis of shaft 22, so that the holder being transferred from active position to reserve position is unseated from its supporting post at the time that holder is positioned outside the rear of rail 12. The suitability of this arrangement brings out the fact that the positions of the holders during normal winding is with their axes lying in a common plane extending other than transversely of rail 12. The operating position of the holder is, rather, with package carrier 26 disposed at an acute or oblique angle to the rail axis, as can be seen in FIG. 2. With the carrier extending at this angle, the reserve package is not positioned directly beneath frame member 10 but instead is held to one side thereof and is, therefore, accessible to the machine attendant for the purposes of servicing, or the like. This is perhaps an appropriate point to note that for differentiation the yarn package shown in active unwinding position in FIG. 2, and in progress to that position in FIG. 1, is designated S while the package holder shown in the act of being discharged in FIG. 1, is designated S The mechanism thus far described is adapted to impart translation to a carrier for yarn package holders and, during the course of such translation, to unseat one of the holders from the means by which it is supported on the carrier. It is conceivable that the mere unseating of the package holder from its support may not result in the holder actually being discharged from the carrier. For this reason, the present invention includes means for actually engaging the unseated package holder and forceably discharging it away from the carrier. Mounted on shaft 14 at a point spaced vertically a substantial distance above carrier 26 is a hub 76 formed with two integral, diametrically opposite arms 78, 78, having bifurcated end portions 79, 79', the axis of arms 78, 78' being in vertical alignment with the axis of the arms 30, 30 arranged within the bifurcated end portions of arms 78, 78 for pivotal movement about horizontal axes are collars 80, 80, one for each arm, each collar having a pair of opposed gudgeons 82 resting in upwardly facing U-shaped recesses 83 in the bifurcations. Collars 80, 80 encircle and support elongated tubes 84, 84', preferably constructed of transparent plastic, or the like, which are of sufiicient internal diameter to surround a package holder carrying a full supply of yarn in spaced concentric relationship. In the vertical direction, tubes 84, 84' project both above and below the level of the collars, extending over a major portion of the length of the package holders, but terminating at a level spaced above the upper limit of posts 32, 32 far enough to clear the upper ends of sleeves 48, 48' when elevated to package holder unseating position by lift arms 40, 40'.

On the inner side of collars 80, 80 at points lying on the axis of symmetry of bifurcated end portions 79, 79 are collar operating levers or crank arms 86, 86', one for each collar, formed integrally with, or otherwise fixed to, the collars. Levers 86, 86' are of substantially dogleg configuration, each having a lower portion 88, 88 projecting at more or less right angles to the plane of the collars and an upper end portion 90, 90 extending angularly from the free end of lower portion 88, 88' toward the upper end of shaft 14 and terminating at a point lying on a circle concentric with shaft 14. For the purpose of rocking collars 80, 80', the inner ends 90, 90' of levers 86, 86' are engaged by the lower edge 92 of an annular crown cam 94, supported against rotation from the undersurface of machine frame part by means of a bracket 96, or the like. The lower edge 92 of crown cam 94, which edge is the effective camming surface of that cam, lies in a common horizontal plane around all of the periphery of the cam except for a short arc in which it is extended downwardly to define a generally U-shaped lobe 98. The circumferential position of lobe 98 and its arcuate extent is necessarily such that it is not engaged by the end of a lever 86, 86' until the tongue 50, 50' of the lift arm 40, 40, situated beneath that lever, has contacted lobe 60 on plate cam 54, to elevate the lift arm and corresponding sleeve to yarn holder unseating position. Accordingly, the leading edge of lobe 98 coincides with a point on the circular path of the yarn holders at least as late as, and preferably slightly later than, the point thereon coinciding with the leading edge of plate cam lobe 60.

The extent to which a collar 80, 80 and the associated tube 84, 84 is oscillated by the action of crown cam lobe 98 upon the corresponding lever 86, 86 is determined not only by the vertical dimension of lobe 98 but by the distance both radially and vertically from the inner ends of the lever arms to the pivot axes of the collars as well. For this reason, there is no single value for the vertical dimension of lobe 98 that must be utilized to the exclusion of all others. The only requirement is that the combination of that dimension with the elfective length of the lever arms both vertically and horizontally relative to the pivot axis of the collar should cause the lower end of the tubes 84, 84' to swing outwardly to a point spaced from the axis of shaft 14 a distance at least as great as, and preferably slightly greater than, the radius of the circular path followed by posts 32, 32' as carrier 26 rotates.

Obviously, it would be possible to maintain positive control over the rocking movement of tubes 84, 84 at all times through the use of a slotted drum cam engaging both sides of the inner ends of operating levers 86, 86. However, the same result can be obtained with a crown cam by so weighting the tube and collar assembly that it tends to naturally return to vertical position under the influence of gravity. One simply way of accomplishing this is to have a greater portion of the tube located below the pivot axis of the assembly, as shown in FIG. 1.

Advantageously, the invention also includes means for accumulating the ejected yarn holders whereby they are kept out of the way subject to collection at periodic intervals when desired.

A suitable accumulating means may take the form of a V-shaped trough 100 (see FIG. 1) formed of sheet metal, or the like, which is attached at its front edge to the rear edge of rail 12 with its rear end supported by means, not shown, above the floor or other surface upon which the machine rests. It will be apparent that such a trough will be adequate to receive the yarn holders as they are ejected from the machine and several ejected holders, designated S are shown in the trough awaiting collection in FIG. 1.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the arrange ment that has been specifically illustrated and described will be subject to considerable variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, that which is claimed is:

1. In a winding machine having a yarn carrier mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and adapted to support at least two yarn holders at circumferentially spaced points therearound, said carrier including at each of said points a member disposed on a vertical axis fixed with respect to said carrier, said member mating with an end of said holder to support the holder vertically on said carrier, and means operable from time to time for revolving the carrier through an are equal to the circumferential spacing of said yarn holders on said carriers to successively bring said holders from and to a reserve position to and from an active unwinding position, the improvement which comprises means for effecting relative axial movement between each supporting member and the holder associated therewith upon movement thereof from active to reserve position to unseat the holder and means adapted to engage an unseated holder and forceably displace the same laterally of said vertical axis.

2. A winding machine as in claim 1 wherein said unseating means includes a lift member for each holder support member, said lift member being pivotally mounted on said carrier for movement vertically to unseat each holder from the corresponding support member, and a cam operatively associated with said lift members to move the same vertically at a locus on the path of said carrier "about its vertical axis intermediate the active and reserve position of said holders, said cam being fixed against rotation.

3. A winding machine as in claim 2 wherein said holder displacing means comprises lever means pivotally mounted on said carrier above each holder support member, said lever means being adapted upon pivoted movement thereof to engage the corresponding holder and impel the same laterally of the support member axis, and a second cam fixedly mounted on said machine, said cam having a cam surface contacting said lever means and operative to pivot the same at a predetermined locus on said surface, said locus corresponding to a point on the path of said carrier at which the holder being moved from active to reserve position is unseated from its sup port member.

4. A machine as in claim 3 wherein said lever means comprises a hollow tube surrounding each holder along a major portion of its length and terminating at a level above the upper limit of said holder support members, said tube being mounted on said carrier for pivotal movement in a vertical plane, and a crank arm affixed to each tube and engaged by said last-mentioned cam.

5. In a winding machine having yarn carrier mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and adapted to support at least two yarn holders at circumferentially spaced points therearound, said carrier including at each of said points a member disposed on a vertical axis fixed with respect to said carrier, said member mating with the end of a holder to support the holder vertically on the carrier, and means operable from time to time for revolving the carrier through an arc equal to the circumferential spacing of the holder support members to successively bring said members and the holders supported thereon from and to a reserve position toand from an active unwind- 7 8 ing position, the improvement which comprises means for member axis and means for moving said last-named eifecting relative axial movement between each member means to operative position after the holder is unseated. and the associated holder upon movement thereof from l active to reserve position to unseat the holder from said nc s C ed 1n the file of thls patent member, means mounted on said carrier for movement 5 from an inoperative position to an operative position UNITED STATES PATENTS foreeably ejecting the holder laterally of said support 2,632,612 Stange Mar. 24, 1953 

